I Watched "Mulan II" For The First Time And It Wasn't As Bad As Everyone Says

    Let's get down to business!

    Amber Barnes
    by Amber Barnes

    Lifestyle Editor

    The original, iconic Mulan has an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Well deserved. And, while I know sequels can be dicey sometimes, I was amazed to see that Mulan II has a 0% on RT.

    Disney/Rotten Tomatoes

    First of all, I didn't even know that this sequel existed, let alone that it was on Netflix. Does that say more about me or the movie quality?

    Haters out there say it's a sorry attempt at the original plot, but there are Mulan II fanatics out there who would say otherwise.

    @lyman_brian/@sillynaaah / Via Twitter

    I didn't know who to believe, so I needed to see for myself.

    The movie begins a month after Mulan, and I'm just giving it up for Mushu finally getting his pedestal. PUT SOME RESPECK ON HIS NAME!

    Disney

    And Mulan is out doing chores, which doesn't really make much sense to me because she saved a whole country, but whatevs.

    Disney

    The first song of the movie, "Lesson Number One," is a bop so I'm officially invested. How can anything this beautiful deserve a 0%?!

    Disney

    Also, can we talk about Mulan teaching all the girls how to be tough and gentle at the same time?! This is the type of female positivity we need in the world.

    Then, Shang comes through to propose to Mulan. BOW CHICKA WOW WOW! And everybody is happy about it...

    Disney

    Except Mushu! *gasp* He is trying to sabotage the engagement because he is a selfish, trash friend.

    Disney

    There is a rule that once a woman gets married the husband's ancestors take over the guardian duties, which would leave Mushu without a job. So, obviously his only choice is to ruin the engagement without regard for Mulan's happiness, right?!

    Now, this is where the plot thickens. The emperor has a mission for Mulan, Shang, and the crew (Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po) to escort his three daughters (Mei, Ting Ting, and Su) off to their arranged marriages.

    Disney

    Mulan is not happy, Shang is blah, the daughters are agreeable and the crew is in love? Uh oh, I see where this is going.

    All the daughters want is to be like other girls, not royalty who get married off — and they tell us that in a cute, but stereotypical, song called, you guessed it, "Like Other Girls."

    Disney/E!

    I wonder if this is how the Kardashian sisters feel...nah.

    They start second guessing their arranged marriages because they fell in love, which was super obvious. I smelled it a mile away.

    Disney

    They went on a festival date with the crew and they seemed to have a good time. It was super cute and all, but you wouldn't catch me going on a triple date. NE-VER!

    But, Mulan and Shang are also having second thoughts about their marriage and it's all Mushu's fault. He is shady AF and I am not here for it.

    Disney

    Shang basically told everybody that they had to follow their duty, which is none of his business. And now, everybody is sad.

    Then Mushu confesses to his nonsense, an ambush happens, and there's the wildest moment of the whole movie. I. 👏🏽 AM. 👏🏽 SHOOK. 👏🏽

    SPOILER ALERT Tap to reveal Click to reveal
    Disney

    WTF are they gonna do now?! Oh no...she's not gonna take their place?!

    Disney

    But wait...YAY! What else did I expect from Disney after all?

    Disney

    We get the happily ever after, but I still have a lot of questions. Like, how did the daughters get out of it?! Is the alliance not a thing anymore?! What happened to obligations?!

    Disney

    Also, I wanted to see the daughters date a little more, or at least have them in the end scene instead of Mushu's shady ass.

    HEY! That was pretty g—wait. Hold the phone...

    Disney

    Sooooo you mean to tell me that this whole time, Mushu was not voiced by Eddie Murphy?! I feel so lied to.

    Disney

    Hilarious: I am a sucker for corny jokes. So whenever Ling tried to get Ting Ting to laugh, I was rollin'. I would go see a Ling stand-up for sure.

    Touching: Despite Mushu being an annoying character, the moment when he said that he would give up his pedestal for her not to have to go through with the marriage was so beautiful. I got a little choked up there.

    Irritating: Now that I gave Mushu a little bit of credit, I have to take it away. He was the most annoying character hands down. Trying to break up Mulan and Shang for a pedestal was uncalled for and rude. I was over it before it started.

    Final thoughts: Not the best, but not the worst.

    Disney

    Was it the best Disney sequel I've ever seen? No. Of course not. I mean...have you seen The Lion King 2?! Mulan II was very predictable and left a little to be desired compared to the original. Also, they kinda made Mulan a male- and marriage-centered character, which was never her jam. I kinda missed the kick-assery.

    But, was it the worst? No. I think the 0% is a little harsh. It was funny and had its sweet moments. Even though it wasn't the best model for young girls, it wasn't horrible either. Mushu deserves a 0% though. I'll agree with you there.